Domain understands at least one offer above $700,000 was made ahead of time. However, the agent was under instruction to take the property to auction. The reserve was not disclosed.

Mr Almeida said it would take at least $300,000 to renovate the home to a habitable standard appropriate for the area, noting his client had spent close to $4000 in research fees for the property.

Photo of a 20-year-old Natalie Wood.

University of Sydney associate professor Henry Woo, who made a bid but was also unsuccessful, was hoping to turn the property into a commercial cafe, named after Ms Wood.

The home was advertised as a dilapidated deceased estate and an “exceedingly rare chance to possess a property of unquestionable possibility”.

The Victorian terrace is completely uninhabitable, set on a 75.88 square metre parcel and has “unmatched scope” to overhaul and update the home, subject to council approval.

Selling agent PRDnationwide Perez Real Estate’s Corrinne Olsen previously described it as a “great blank canvas for young people wanting to get into inner city living at an affordable price to make something quite spectacular”.

Ms Olsen said the home was an “unknown” in its current state and would need substantial remodelling by the purchaser.

The property has original period features, such as timber flooring and fireplaces and is walking distance to Crown Street, Central and the CBD. It does not have parking.

Ms Wood was last confirmed seen in late December 2003, when she went to fill in a prescription. Her decomposed body was found in the front bedroom of her Kippax Street home in 2011, a month before her 87th birthday.